OK, I originally started lurking on this board months ago (with minor contributions) looking for a way to help my moms thinning hair.  Then I became obsessed. I had no idea that there is so much to know!  Ive bought books, read websites, read pretty much every single page on this board - and others- and now I think I may get extensions!  Or, rather, do them myself as I am broke, unless I can sweet talk one of my hairstylist co workers to do it (I do nails, btw)

Anyway, heres the thing, I am a total analyzer - meaning I like details - and step by steps.  I know there are a lot of those floating around, but I need to know exactly what would work best for my hair....

I have quite thick reddish brown hair that is just below my shoulders.  I have a natural wave, but the top layer of my hair is naturally frizzy.  I dont know if its enviromnent or what, but I suspect its heredity (my dads hair was the same - smooth and lushly wavy underneath, but the very top was all frizz!)  Anyway, I end up flat ironing my hair a lot because it is the only way to control the frizz.  I wash every other day.

So, extension wise, I really like the thought of human hair, assuming I can work with it as if it were my own?(meaning flat iron, maybe some color?).  IS PH really as good as human?  I know you cant color it.  Lush Hair is really appealing to me, though I dont have the $$ for it right now.

As for installing, Ive been thinking either shrinkies or the bonding strips.  The strips would be quicker I assume?  I dont have much spare time - ok, none really

What I am looking for is length, I really dont need to add thickness to my hair.  When applying, would I bond to all of my hair?  Skip some places?  I guess it would depend if I use pre tips or wefts! 

Can you tell Im an analyzer???  LOLOLOL

Hi,

I have tried both, and although the synthetic hair was fun, I love the styling ease of human hair.  Lush hair is superb!  Also, the price on Lush is good.  You won't find any good quality human hair for a cheaper price.

You need to decide which kind of install you want to do.  If you want to do a strand application, than the shrinkies are great, if you want a wefted application, than the strips seem to be working well for many people too.

There's no way to just add length to your hair without also adding thickness.   Anytime you are adding hair, you are adding hair, thus adding thickness.  You must make sure you add enough extension hair to match the density of your natural hair.  You say your hair is thick, than you will have to add a lot of extension hair to get it to blend in seamlessly or you will be able to detect the extensions.

I'm not sure what you mean about he bonding?  If you are using wefts, you will probably only need to do 3-5 rows.  If you are doing a strand method, you'll want to do several rows where each strand is placed one next to another.  The key is to add enough hair to match your natural density.

That would depend on the person's hair and the size of their head.  If the person has very thick hair, you'd probably not want to skip too many rows, as you need to pile on the hair to match the density.

I know for me, my hair is very thin, but I like to wear a lot of hair, and my head is smaller than average, so I don't skip any spaces.